Foxconn Workers Upset at Being Forced to Work Less Hours

Following the Fair Labor Associations report on working conditions at Foxconn, a plan has been instituted to reduce employee hours; however, it appears that most workers don't want to work less hours.

M.I.C Gadget first reported on the issue a few days ago noting that Foxconn workers are losing income that they rely on to make ends meet.

"My base pay is 2,350 yuan, and I need to pay 190 yuan for social security tax, 120 yuan for housing fund, 110 yuan for accommodation fee, and some money on having meals. I'm going through a difficult time for this month," said one worker who had his hours reduced.


Reuters interviewed numerous other employees who felt the same way.

"We are worried we will have less money to spend. Of course, if we work less overtime, it would mean less money," said Wu, a 23-year-old employee from Hunan province in south China.

"We are here to work and not to play, so our income is very important," said Chen Yamei, 25, a Foxconn worker from Hunan who said she had worked at the factory for four years. "We have just been told that we can only work a maximum of 36 hours a month of overtime. I tell you, a lot of us are unhappy with this. We think that 60 hours of overtime a month would be reasonable and that 36 hours would be too little," she added. Chen said she now earned a bit over 4,000 yuan a month ($634).

The FLA report surveyed workers and found that:
● 48% thought that their working hours were reasonable
● 33.8% stated that they would like to work more hours
● 17.7% of the respondents felt that they worked too much


That amounts to 81.8% of workers who are happy with the hours they work or want to work more hours.

The FLA also said that in all focus group discussions about working hours, employees raised concerns that stricter working hour regulations would lower their income, yet the FLA has prompted Apple and Foxconn to reduce worker hours, perhaps in an effort to increase employee happiness and reduce suicides. It would appear that this may in fact have the opposite effect causing employees who are struggling financial or sending money to their poor families to be under increased stress due to their now lower income.

Foxconn is planning to reduce working hours to 49 per week, including overtime.